The Band Young Justice
by cubicslady
Summary: Being in love is one thing. Being in love while also being secretly in a popular band that no one can know you are apart of, is something else entirely. When Barbara Gordon messes up his reputation, it isn't the only thing he has to worry about. Can he keep his friend from dating a dead man or will his secret get in the way. Version 2
1. So Contagious

Whenever I get lost in thought while playing an instrument, my mind starts to run through memories that I yearn to forget. Memories like the moment when my friend Jason died, beaten with a crowbar by some lunatic dressed like a clown. Memories like when Bruce had unwillingly undergone experimental lobotomy and the insane doctor forced me to watch. Memories like the face of my mother as she fell to her death.

"Yo, Rob. Break time," KidFlash grabbed my shoulder, shaking me a little.

"Hey, you okay?" He asked, I quickly stood up and pushed him away.

"I'm fine."

"It happened again, didn't it?"

"...Yeah."

"Now that it's time for intermission, a word from our sponsors-"

Wally shut the dressing room door behind him, blocking out all the sounds from the stage. We both stripped off our masks and sat next to Connor and Kaldur.

"Hey Rob, you still going to do that new song?" Connor asked before he took a huge swig of water.

"I don't know, who's to say she is even watching?"

"Why don't you just ask her?" Kaldur suggested

"Wouldn't that seem a little suspicious, me just calling her and asking if she is watching the concert?"

"Don't you have that Archery thing with her tomorrow? Tell her you called to make sure she is still going through with it,"

"Dude, Wally, you are a genius!" I got up quickly and grabbed my phone,

"I'll be right back!"

Making sure my mask was on and I was somewhere no one could find me, I dialed her number.

"_Hello?"_

"Babs? Hey! It's Dick,"

"_Hey! Why the random call? Is something wrong?"_

"Huh? No, nothing is wrong. I was, I was just wondering if we are still on for after school tomorrow,"

"_Tomorrow...Oh right, for the-"_

"Archery lesson."

"_Yeah, I'd have Artemis teach me but you know how competitive she gets."_

"I hear the first prize this year for the sports competition is V.I.P. passes and tickets to a Young Justice concert."

"_AND a new computer! Speaking of Young Justice, I'm actually watching their concert right now."_

"Heh, you would only do it for the computer-" KidFlash popped out of nowhere,

"Dude you need to get on stage,"

"-huh? Oh ok, just give me another minute and I'll be right there."

"_Who was that?"_

"Excuse me?"

"_In the background, it sounds like you're at a crowded place."_

"Wayne benefit, Bruce has to give a speech and boring stuff like that. So I'll see you tomorrow?"

"_Yep! Bye."_

"Later."

I combed my fingers through my hair, trying to slow down my heart. God, she made me so nervous. I started walking towards the stage, the lights blinding as I walked from behind the curtain. Hundreds, thousands, of girls were screaming at us. It was nerve wracking to say the least but it's not like this is my first concert, or my first time on a stage. The nerves go away after a few seconds and I smile at them, always give the audience what it wants.

"And we're back with Young Justice!"

An assistant handed me a guitar, another handed me a mic. It was now or never. Coming to the center of the stage, the crowd hushed as it waited to hear what I would say.

"This next song is one I wrote for a girl who, quite frankly, is incredibly whelming to me. I know you're watching and I just wanted to say that we've been friends since we were kids and...and this song basically sums up how I feel about you."

As I strummed the first few chords, I wondered what her reaction would be if she found out that I wrote this for her?

I smiled.

"_Oh you're everything I'm wanting_

_Come to think of it, I'm aching_

_On account of my transgression.._

_Will you welcome this confession?_

_Could this be out of line? (Could this be out of line?)_

_To say you're the only one breaking me down like this_

_You're the only one I would take a shot on_

_Keep me hanging on so contagiously"_

* * *

__So what did you think? I will admit, writing from Dick's point of view was a lot more fun than writing in Barbara's. And quicker. And easier.  
The song Robin plays in the beginning is Perseverance by Michele McLaughlin  
The song Robin sings is So Contagious by Acceptance  
Some people think that putting in song lyrics is a little cheesy, but I think its cute at a moderate amount :)  
Thoughts are always welcomed! Just be polite with criticism.


	2. Advice

"That little stunt you pulled with dedicating your new song to your 'crush' has the whole public talking! Mr. Wayne-"

"Grayson."

"Excuse me?"

"My last name. It's not Wayne, it's Grayson. Bruce isn't my real father."

"Mr. _Grayson_, as I was saying. That little stunt-"

"It wasn't a stunt, I really meant what I said out there."

"I don't really care if you meant it or not, it might have seemed like a good idea to you but now every time the paparazzi see you with a girl, there are going to be questions! Now look, I don't care what you do with this girl when you are yourself, but when you are Robin I need you to be the 'boyfriend' of every single one of your fans! So here is what I decided I need you to do to fix your problem, write a song about how your little crush broke your heart-"

"I'm sorry but I won't do that. Robin is supposed to be carefree, happy, not some sad idiot singing about how he got his heart broken."

"Fine. I just hope you know that there are going to be consequences to your actions."

I sighed as I remembered the events that happened after the show in my manager's office. I sat on my window sill looking up at a moon that was way too big and way too white to be real. I quietly wondered if my manager had been right, no I knew he was. I knew what he was basically trying to warn me of, if Robin got tied down by one girl, there would be thousands that would feel like I was cheating on them. I jumped when I heard the door open, Alfred came in with his laundry basket.

"Excuse me Master Richard, I am just coming in to pick up your laundry load."

"Alfie, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course Master Richard."

"My manager said that I have to tell the world that the girl I like broke my heart, but I don't want her to think that I won't like her anymore. But if I don't do that then my reputation as Robin will be changed and I might make the band lose fans or worse, she might get hurt from a crazy stalker. Ah! This is so confusing!" I messed my hair up and put my face between my hands. I felt Alfred sit next to me on the sill seat.

"Sir, if I may be so bold, I believe you are getting frustrated over nothing."

"What?" I shot my head up to look at him, did Alfred go crazy?

"Master Richard, you seem to have forgotten that you and Robin are not the same person. Robin can be free and not tied down to one girl, but you have the choice to be with whomever you wish. I believe your manager is just worried that your secret might get told to the wrong people, you would have to make sure this girl doesn't find out who you are as Robin."

"Alfred, you are a genius!"

"I am just a loyal servant sir, nothing more."

In the morning I decided to tell Babs how I felt, or at least get her thinking about me. That is, if she doesn't kill me with that bow and arrow first.

"Okay, Barbara, just focus again. Relax, let out a breath, and shoot."

Miss.

"Lower your elbow. Okay, good! Now shoot!"

Miss.

"No! You raised it again at the last second! Keep it low!"

Miss.

"Not that low!"

Miss.

"Stop! Okay, hold on," I walked up to her back, putting my hands over hers. I had seen Bruce do this with one of his girlfriends when he was teaching her how to golf,

"Dick what are you-"

"Just follow my body motion..." I wonder if she could hear how nervous I was, I had never been this close to a girl before!

...Okay that was a lie, but I had never been so close to _Barbara_ before. I molded her body into the correct archer stance and whispered to her,

"Breathe in...Relax...aim...now shoot..." Her arrow surprisingly hit close to the target, it made me laugh actually.

"Good job, now try it without my help." I stepped away from her, my nervousness slowly dying down as she let go of another arrow.

"Wow Babs, you're a natural!"

"Are you being condescending?"

"No, I'm seriously impressed right now!"

I really was, but I had my doubts that she would win. Artemis had been winning for the past two years, she was a sort of prodigy in the archery world. So imagine my surprise when Wally called me and told me that Artemis had to drop out because she broke her arm. I almost fell over laughing when Wally told me how it happened. Apparently he had gotten a drunk Artemis so pissed off that she punched a wall, breaking her hand and arm. With her disqualified, Barbara did really well. In fact she won and at the time I was excited for her, until I realized something that I should have realized sooner.

What if Barbara recognizes me?

I only have two days to figure _that one _out.

* * *

I always wondered why people never called Dick, Dick Wayne. If I had first met him, knowing nothing about him, I would assume since he is Bruce's ward he would go by Wayne. Maybe I am just over thinking the name situation.

Hey shadowneko003, now you know what happened to Artemis's arm! I actually sometimes listen to K-Pop:) not J-Pop though, I'll give that band a listen-to. In the 60's Batman TV series with Adam West, Batman dances for King Tut because he was hypnotized.

To the rest of the readers, thank you:) if you are reading this it means that you either like this story or want to know what happens and that is always a compliment to me so, again, thank you!


	3. IDIOT

It was the day of the concert and I was panicking. Well, only on the inside. My game plan was to shake her hand, introduce myself, and then ignore her for the rest of the show. She was supposed to be sitting with the intro band so that was good, that meant she was going to be hanging out with us backstage during the show. Looking in the mirror, I smoothed over my domino mask and flashed myself a smile. Nothing to worry about, nothing to worry about, nothing to worry about-

"You're on in fifteen. Superboy wants me to remind you that you are playing the piano for the first piece."

"I know, tell him to start feeling the aster!"

Damn piano, everytime I play it those damn memories come rushing to me. I don't want to think about those kinds of things right now, but I do. Why can't I get my mothers face out of my mind?

"Dude, you okay?" I heard Wally's voice from behind me.

"I'm fine. Is it intermission already?"

"Yeah...have you seen Barbara yet?"

"No, why?" Wally laughed like he just remembered an inside joke, he gave me a sorry look and then said,

"Just don't trip."

I didn't understand what he was talking about so I shrugged it off as a 'Wally moment' and went back stage. Running my game plan through my mind, I went to the changing room where she was supposed to meet us. I opened the door casually and once I saw her my mind went blank.

Who put her in THAT? Who made her look like THAT?

I'm pretty sure I can't even shake her hand if she looks like that.

"Oh you must be Robin! My name is Barbara."

"Um...yeah. Nice to meet you." She took my hand into her pretty ones, smiling at me as she shook it. What was I doing? I quickly mentally composed myself, this was JUST Barbara Gordon. I heard Wally and Connor holding back their laughter behind her.

"Did everything work out between you and the girl you sang to the other night?" She asked me sweetly, I half wanted to laugh myself. I wonder what would happen if she found out she was being this sweet to Richard Grayson and that the girl I sang about was her. For some reason she just suddenly felt to close and I was standing here for too long.

"I gotta go."

"Hey wait-" I couldn't hear the rest of what she had to say, because I closed the door on her face.

I ran to a place where I could clear my head, I felt bad for being rude to her it was just, well...

"I'm such an idiot!" I said to myself, "I can't believe I just left like that! I'm an idiot!"

"Excuse me?" I looked up quickly to see it was Barbara, I looked everywhere but at her. I'm pretty sure my self control is on the fringe right now, why was I panicking so much?

"What do you want?" Oh, that came out way more rude than intended.

"Sorry, I just wanted to apologize-"

"Whatever, I don't want your apology." Damn it! That sounded rude too! Before I could apologize myself, she stormed over to me.

"Hey! Look, I said I'm sorry, you don't have to keep being rude to me!"

Too close, too close, too close, too close,

"Look me in the eye and let me apologize to you!" That was it. My mind went Jurassic Park on me. I'm pretty sure I just grabbed her shoulders and kissed her though. All I could

process was one thought,

She kissed me back.

How my hands went from her shoulders to her waist is a mystery, but the next thing I knew she was gently pushing me away.

"Wait," she almost whispered it, "I don't know you, why are you-"

"Yeah you do," NO NO IDIOT, "I'm sorry, please don't tell anyone." I left so quickly, my mind was in a scramble. Telling her she knew me was just an instinctive reaction, why did she have this power over me?

I entered the stage, I had to announce to the world a lie about how I was rejected when I was just kissing her.

"The last time I played this song, it was for a girl that I loved. Now though, I know she doesn't feel the same. So I want to sing this for everyone who has ever had their heart broken," My fingers strummed over the chords as I started to sing. At that moment it felt like this was the saddest song I had ever sung.

I really shouldn't have given her an archery lesson.

"_Oohhh, when I'm around you I'm predictable_

_Cause I believe in loving you at first sight_

_I know it's crazy but I'm hoping to.._

_To take a hold of you_

_Could this be out of line? (Could this be out of line?)_

_To say you're the only one breaking me down like this_

_You're the only one I would take a shot on_

_Keep me hanging on so contagiously"_

* * *

__This was more of a chapter for Babs part of the story, I feel bad for Dick though :( especially with what I am going to have happen in chapter 4...  
Well, anyways! Any questions? Comments?


	4. Jason and DickieBird

I wasn't ready to face Barbara, so I made sure to avoid her at all costs.

"Dude, she thinks you're mad at her."

"I know KF, but what else can I do? You saw the news." I punched the punching bag as hard as I could. Wally was currently on the treadmill, he was looking at the magazine that I provided for him earlier.

**ROBIN: HOPELESS ROMANTIC OR SECRET PLAYBOY?**

Under it were two pictures, one of Babs and I kissing, the other was of me announcing my 'heart break' to the audience.

"Oh dude, you even got an article!" Wally stopped jogging and read it to me,

"Robin, Hunk Wonder, has been known as the free spirit of the band Young Justice. Never before expressing interest in any one girl, he shocked millions with his heartfelt dedication to his childhood love. Many suspected it to be the Pop Queen, Zatanna, the two having a supposed history together. Despite declines from both Robin and Zatanna, a lot of fans were hoping for this merge in music to be reality. Then on Saturday, Robin confessed to actually being rejected by his childhood lover, stating, "she doesn't feel the same," and then dedicated the song to, "everyone who has ever had their heart broken." Everything seemed to be pointed to Robin being a hopeless romantic until, (surprise, surprise!) a photo came out of him kissing a mysterious redhead after the show! This girl is no one of the music industry or movie business, so the question was- who is the girl? Our detectives suspected perhaps a cousin or sister of none other than KidFlash, until an inside source told us the truth. The girl is actually our very own Commissioner Gordon's daughter! From Queen Zee to childhood lover to the Commish's Kid, who will be next on Hunk Wonder's list of broken hearts?" Wally started to laugh,

"My sister? That would have been funny!"

"I'm screwed if Babs sees this."

"Do you really think she would be able to put all the pieces together?"

"Yes! Remember how she figured out that Bruce was actually Batman from the old band Justice Society?"

"Oh yeah. I could call Arty and ask if she has heard from Babs about it."

"No, I'll figure something out."

I heard the door to our gym open, Alfred came in,

"I'm sorry to interrupt your work out Master Richard, but it seems you have a guest. He says he is a childhood friend of yours."

"It's okay Alfred, bring him in." My mind started to bring up a list of people it could have been. Someone from Haly's Circus? No, when I called Mr. Haly last they were in Europe. A guy my age walked in, hood over his head, as he pulled his hood away to reveal pale green eyes, my stomach dropped.

"Hey Dickie-Bird, long time no see huh?"

"Jason?" I could barely comprehend what was going on. Last time I saw Jason Todd, he was being beaten to death by a crowbar.

"Your-"

"Alive?" He said, smiling he walked over to me.

"Come on, we'll talk in the study. Wally stay here, I'll be right back."

In the study, Jason was looking out the window that overviewed the drive way and then Gotham. He had his hands folded behind his back, I couldn't stop staring at him. Standing by his side, I shoved my hands in the pockets of my sweats.

"How?" I asked.

"I was basically dead, until this doctor, Harleen Quinzel, brought me back. It took a year of healing and therapy, but she saved me," He turned to look at me, "Like you should have saved me."

"I was eleven and drugged, but you are right. I should have done something. I'm sorry."

He grabbed my arm, shaking me a little,

"No, no, sorry isn't enough. Do you know what my mother did when she saw me? She thought she was hallucinating! SHE SHOT HERSELF," he started to shake me harder, I broke loose of his grip and stepped back,

"My dad, you want to know how he reacted? Drowned himself in liquor until, finally, they had him taken to Arkham for going crazy!" His fist slammed onto the desk, his face twisted in rage.

"Jason, I-"

"No! No, you can't apologize! It was supposed to be you all along! Your life was already screwed up! Parents dead, living on the streets, my family took you in and this is how you repay us! I heard that after I got beaten shitless because Zucco thought I was you, that you got picked up by none other than BRUCE WAYNE!" He wiped his arm across the desk, clearing it of everything.

"Jason-"

"Shut up! SHUT UP! You, Dickie-Bird, you, you little dick! It's your turn, I'm going to take everything that was supposed to be mine back!" He stepped closer to me until our noses almost touched. I gave him a serious look, not wavering from where I stood. I wasn't going to let him tear me down, no I wouldn't let him do that.

"Heh, well what do you know, has the robin grown to become a hawk? I don't see that homeless little shit anymore, you actually look like a grown man, Dickie-Bird. But don't think your little charade is going to phase me. I know that under all your rich clothes and Robin mask's, you are still that scared little circus freak!"

Then he leaned over and whispered in my ear,

"I am going to destroy your world, like you've destroyed mine."

Shoving my shoulder with his, he walked out the door. I curled my fingers into a tight fist, slamming it into the desk. I walked out of the study myself, passing Alfred.

"Master Richard?" I heard him gasp when he walked into the study.

All he saw was a desk split in half and out the window, Jason's motorcycle's dust.

* * *

I am so off-track of the typical Jason and Dick Grayson story, but I don't care. The ending gave you a little preview of how much Jason's words affected Dick, I mean if he can punch a wall cleanly in the series then he can chop a desk in half. It's only logical ;)

I felt really OOC with Jason, actually it felt like I was writing about the Joker. I am a huge fan of Red Hood, but I saw this trailer for "Batman: Under the Red Hood" on YouTube and it got me thinking. If I had been beaten (almost) to death by a man dressed up like a clown, because he thought I was somebody else, and then had to spend a year in rehabilitation with a woman whom might be equally as crazy, would I be normal? Nope. Pretty sure I would be crazy mad with revenge. The part about Harley healing him back to health was purely my idea, please don't take it as legit history to Jason. I also made up the part about Dick being homeless, but I needed to in order for my How-Babs-Met-Dick situation to make sense.  
As always thoughts are welcomed.  
While writing the scene with Jason and Dick, I listened to Batman's main theme from The Dark Knight. It surprisingly flows really well if you listen to it while reading the story, especially at the end with the desk chop and goodies.


	5. Perfect

Jason's threat and my manager busting my chops over this 'publicity stunt', had me a little over the edge. Whenever Bruce was stressed, he informed me that he would just vent it onto paper, infact that was how most of Justice Society's big hits were made. Another thing that made me relax was doing acrobatic stunts, so after working out half the day, doing nothing but flips and spins in the air, I sat in the splits on my bed and just wrote.

"RICHARD GRAYSON I HAVE COME TO CONFRONT YOU ON THE MATTER OF YOU IGNORING ME!"

"Uh...nice to see you too Babs." She took me by complete surprise, I forgot I had to make peace with her. With Jason running around bent on revenge, I don't want her meeting up with him.

"Oh, sorry I didn't mean to, um, yeah, I'll come back later..."

"No-wait! Barbara, don't go!" I shot up and grabbed her, pulling her over to sit on my window sill. I started to pace, not knowing what to say, or how to say what I need to say.

"Okay, look..." This is my pathetic attempt of apology, "I'm sorry if it seems like I've been ignoring you." Well, I have been, but she doesn't need to know that, "It's nothing you did! In fact it's something I did and, um, well, I just want to make sure we are still friends." I don't care if she doesn't understand what I am talking about, I just needed to apologize.

"Of course we are! I was never mad at you, I can never be mad at you!" Oh how wrong I could prove her right now, but I wouldn't.

"Wow, really? Okay, that's good to hear." I sat next to her, I found myself a lot calmer. Leaning my back against the window, I closed my eyes and enjoyed the comfortable silence we were able to share.

"Hey, you can keep a secret right?" I laughed at her question,

"You have no idea."

"I sort of, maybe, possibly, kissed the Hunk Wonder." Opening my eyes, I looked at Barbara. She seemed nervous, like I was going to judge her until she was six feet underground.

"You mean Robin? From Young Justice?" (You mean me?)

"...yes...what should I do?" Don't worry Babs, I always wonder that myself.

"Forget about it." That's what I was trying to do anyways.

"I can't!"

"You're going to have to try, you are never going to see him again. Even if you do, he can't date a fan." Half of that was a lie, but hey, what did you expect me to say? The part about me dating a fan was true though, management rules.

"You know what, you're probably right." I know I am, "I have nothing to worry about! So...what were you doing when I came in?" I felt my cheeks burn pink and knowing my idiot self, I was probably making a stupid face. I sat up straight, in order to get my head clear.

"Oh, um, you mean with my guitar? Just, you know, guy...things."

"Do you do these 'guy things' very often?" She made it sound like I was just caught watching porn.

"Only when I'm having a bad day...I just like writing my thoughts down on and usually it just turns into a...guy thing." I smiled at my weak attempt for subtle humor, she smiled at me back like she understood.

"Will you play it for me?" I could feel my smile dissipate into a frown, looking at my guitar I tried to think of excuses as to why I couldn't show her.

"Well...I'm not the best singer ever. Actually I kind of suck."

"I highly doubt that, you are perfect at just about everything. Please?" She looked at me pleadingly, it was completely cute. I guess she must have mastered it from having a hard ass like Gordon as a dad.

"Alright, but don't judge me!" Because I will be singing less than adequately, I can't have her figuring out that I'm Robin now, can I.

"Actually I wrote it for a piano so we would have to go into the other room."

"I don't mind."

My fingers traced the keys on the keyboard. Stalling, I cracked my knuckles and practiced the first few notes. Stopping, I said,

"You know, this isn't a good idea."

"Come on Grayson, you are already here and you have everything set up. Just forget I'm here and play." Oh yeah, just tell me to forget about the elephant in the room.

"Oh..." no excuses came to mind, "fine."

I started to play and for the first time, those damn memories didn't come to bother me.

"_Falling a thousand feet per second, you still take me by surprise._

_I just know we can't be over, I can see it in your eyes._

_Making every kind of silence, takes a lot to realize_

_It's worse to finish then to start all over and never let it lie._

_And as long as I can feel you holding on. I won't fall, even if you said I was wrong."_

She looked a little dazed, was I singing to well? Did I remind her of...well me? Our eyes met and she started to blush. I felt myself smile,

"_I'm not perfect but I keep trying cause that's what I said I would do from the start._

_I'm not alive if I'm lonely, so please don't leave. Was it something I said or just my personality?_

_I'm not perfect but I keep trying cause that's what I said I would do from the start._

_I'm not alive if I'm lonely, so please don't leave. Was it something I said or just my, just myself?_

_Just myself? Myself? Just myself?"_

If Robin could get a kiss...could I get one too? I stopped playing, but kept singing. Standing up, I walked over to her. Gently putting a hand on her cheek, I made sure to never break eye-contact. It was now or never,

"_I'm not perfect, but I keep trying."_

And then I kissed Barbara Gordon.

And confessed,

"I love you Babs..."

* * *

Song, Perfect by Hedley

It really is a lot easier to write for Dick than it is for Babs. Probably because she is in the dark about so many things. Wow, I'm tired. Please grammar nazi me if there is anything wrong. I will fix it.


End file.
